Title: Online Platform for Exchange of Special Needs Youth Work Methods (OPEN)

Web site, FB, other contact details

FB: https://www.facebook.com/younetit

Instagram: younetit

Web: www.you-net.eu

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/younet-ngo-663bbba5

Short description of the organization’s goals and mission

YouNet is deeply involved in the organization and promotion of social and vocational activities, both at local and international level. The wide range of activities provided by YouNet is addressed to people of all ages, from adolescents in high school looking for an internship abroad to citizens wishing to get involved in social and cultural activities, to professionals and social workers interested in promoting and taking part in these activities.

YouNet is particularly active in the social sector and has great experience working with young people with fewer opportunities and with risk groups, such as ex-offenders, drug addicts, adolescents in rehabilitation centres, and so on, and is able to design and carry out all these projects of non-formal education thanks to the cooperation with public institutions and a deep, densely connected network.

The YouNet staff runs twice a week informative sessions on transnational learning mobility at the Infopoint of the municipality of Bologna. In addition, YouNet participates in several networks including the Anna-Lindh Foundation and the European Regions for Youths (ERY) network, is the representative of the Emilia-Romagna Region for the Italian Network for European Volunteering, is a founding member of the European Forum for Diversity and Interculturality.

Brief description of activities

YouNet has wide experience in the field of learning mobility of young people and youth workers as it is its main field of action. YouNet has participated as sending partner in and has organized several youth exchanges, partnership building activities, trainings and EVS projects every year since its establishment in 2010.
YouNet promotes learning mobility at the infopoint in the local Council of Bologna and runs regularly info sessions aimed at youths, citizens and organizations about learning mobility experience, especially in the framework of European Programmes.
YouNet has a wide experience in social inclusion and in working with adolescents with fewer opportunities and risk groups.
YouNet has wide experience in non-formal and informal education and uses regularly such methods in its activities. Younet has experience in learning outcomes validation, especially for what concerns Youthpass.

YouNet has wide experience in intercultural teamwork and in wide international partnerships.

YouNet has a wide experience in the field of non-formal education for disparities and works notably with schools to implement peer-to-peer education activities in order to improve the quality of learning. In addition, it has a considerable standing cooperation with the local network to integrate the methodologies of the teachers and schools (as with PBL Project based learning methods).

Legislation in the country in the context of the project (500 words)

Since 1992, Italy has regulated the assistance to people with disabilities thanks to the law 104 of passed in 1992, commonly known as “the 104”. The main objectives of this law are the recognition of the rights of people with disabilities, the promotion of their full integration in every social and work environment, the promotion of the full autonomy of the disabled person, the ensuring of legal and economic protection and the promotion of actions aiming at the overcoming of disabled people emargination and exclusion from social life.

This law identifies as “person with disability” all those people who are affected from a physical, psychic or sensorial disability which causes learning, relational or work integration difficulties with a consequent social disadvantage or emargination. If this condition reduces the autonomy of the person, the disability is defined as “severe” and the person enjoys a priority of treatment in the public programmes and health services.

According to the World Health Organization, in Europe 85% of the countries are provided with laws protecting people with Intellectual Disabilities. However, in Italy previous laws created a situation of  disparity between people with intellectual disabilities and people affected by physical handicaps and visual and hearing losses. Namely, the law 381/70 covers the economic and social assistance to deaf-mute people (the law 95 passed in 2006 has then substituted the term “deaf-mute” with “deaf” and has included the possibility of language learning difficulties and/or disability in the definition of “deaf”), the law 382/70 the governmental aid to completely and partially blind people, the law 118/71 covers the social and health assistance to physically disable or mutilated people, and the law 18/80 further covers the latter’s assistance.

Even though the Article 2 of the law 118/71 includes people with psychic disabilities, it limits the disability to those whose working capabilities have been reduced by at least a third. it is only in 2008 with the legislative proposal 431 that this disparity has been addressed and the reduction in the bureaucracy for the recognition of intellectual disability has been demanded.

 

References:
Law 104/92 http://www.gazzettaufficiale.it/eli/id/1992/02/17/092G0108/sg

Law 381/70 http://www.handylex.org/stato/l260570.shtml

Law 382/70 http://www.handylex.org/stato/l270570.shtml

Law 118/71 http://www.handylex.org/stato/l300371.shtml

Law 18/80 http://www.handylex.org/stato/l110280.shtml

Leg. Proposal 431/2008 http://www.senato.it/japp/bgt/showdoc/frame.jsp?tipodoc=Ddlpres&leg=16&id=00302109&part=doc_dc-articolato_ddl&parse=no#

World Health Organisation (WHO), 2007. Atlas Risorse Globali per persone con disabilità intellettive.
http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/96353/9789241563505_ita.pdf;jsessionid=E5DFD4C982871CD00A5D4F60BD91CB5C?sequence=2